Planer guard and holder therefor



June 28, 1955 V BROWN 2,711,763

PLANER GUARD AND HOLDER THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1 954 flnvenrbv Lec QQx'ourtl Witt: e55 I: W? 4* $1M J Amara eggs atent Ofiice 2,711,753 Patented June 28, 1955 PLANER GUARD AND HOLDER THEREFOR Lee R. Brown, Des Moines, Iowa Application February 25, 1954, Serial No. 412,452

1 Claim. (Cl. 144-251) My invention relates to improvements in power operated planer-jointer tools and more particularly to a guard for the blades or cutter knives thereon.

The knife guard usually found on power planer-jointers is substantially the same despite the many different makes of such tools on the market. consist of a flat member having an arm extended from one side so as to present a more or less flag shape. The free end of the arm is pivotally connected at the side of one of the tables farthest from the usual position of the guide fence so that the flat portion is positioned on the table over the blades or knives and is yieldingly held toward and usually engaging the guide fence. Thus as a piece of work is moved adjacent the fence into the knives, it will of course engage the guard which yieldingly moves away from the fence a distance equal to the thickness of the work. As a result, the thicker the work, the more the guard moves and the more of the area over the knives is exposed. This case of movement of present knife guards materially affects its efliciency for its intended purpose and this has been demonstrated by experience due to the manner in which operators are prone to hold their work. For example, in planing the edge of a board, it is a natural position for the operator to place his hands on the work with the left hand being forwardly of the right and with the fingers of the left hand spread out fan-like along the side of the piece being planed. In this position, the ring finger and little finger on the left hand are very close to the planer table so that if extreme care is not constantly exercised, either of these fingers may engage the guard as the work is moved past the knives with the result that the guard is moved further to expose more of the knives. When this happens, injuries to one or more fingers from the knives is not only possible, but has been a frequent occurrence.

Another disadvantage from the present type planer knife guard becomes apparent when only the rabbet table is used for in this operation, the entire planer guard must be removed and thus leaves a major portion of the blades exposed.

With these observations in mind, it is the general aim of my invention to provide a knife guard for a planerjointer power tool that completely covers all portions of the knives except so much as is required to cut the particular piece of Work being planed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a planer knife guard that is mounted at the rear end of the rear table and which is easily laterally adjustable relative to the planer table.

A still further object of my invention is to provide this new planer knife guard with a supporting holder that not only carries the guard, but has formed thereon a table means designed to serve as an extension for the rabbet table and in this respect my supporting holder has means for respectively adjusting the guard and extension so as to provide for the different levels of the respective planer table and rabbet table.

In general, they Other objects of my invention are to provide a planer knife guard of the above class that is economical to manufacture, simple to install, durable in construction, and exceedingly eflicient for its intended purpose.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the planing surface of a power planer-jointer, illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the rear end of the rear planer table to show the mounting of my planer guard supporting holder,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary top view of a power planer showing my guard in place, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the planer table portion illustrating my guard and holder mounted thereon.

Referring to the drawings, the upper portion or planing surface of a power planer is shown only for purposes of illustrating my new guard and no invention is claimed for such tool per se. As shown, a base carries the respective front 12 and rear 14 tables with a guide fence 16 mounted at the outer end of the front table and extending over both tables in a well known manner. Intermediate the respective tables 12 and 14 is mounted the cutter head 18 which carries a plurality of cutting knives or blades 20 and a lateral projecting portion of the front table 12 which embraces one end of the cutter head 18 is known as the rabbet table 22. It will of course be understood that head 13 is power operated so that knives 20 rotate at extremely high speeds and it is to afford the maximum of protection and safety from injury from these knives that my guard is designe The actual guard member 24 itself is preferably an elongated piece of wood of any suitable thickness that rests upon the rear table 14 and extends at one end over and past the cutting head 18 and knives 20 a suflicient distance to eliminate any possibility of an operators hand or fingers coming in. contact with any of the knives. The other end of guard 24 extends slightly past the rear or outer end of table 14 and is mounted to a supporting member or holder shown generally at 25. This holder 26 is preferably formed from a length of angle iron and positioned so that one portion 28 is vertically disposed and suitably affixed to the rear edge of table 14 by studs 30 and nuts 32. Each stud is mounted through a slot 34 in portion 28 so as to allow for vertical adjustment of member 26 as will later appear. The other portion 36 of angle iron support 26 is disposed on a horizontal plane so as to extend outwardly from the rear of table 14 and is provided with a longitudinal slot 38. An L shaped bracket 40 has its horizontal arm fitted flush to the underside of portion 36 and its vertical arm extending upwardly from the outer end thereof where it is secured to the rearward end of guard 24 by bolts 42 or the like. Bracket 4t is provided with vertical slots 44 for bolts 42 to allow for vertical adjustment of guard 24. A bolt 45' connects the horizontal arm of bracket 40 to the rear end of guard 24 through the slot 38 in portion 36 of holder 26 and a wing nut 48 is applied to bolt 46 from the top side of guard 24. Thus, guard 24 is laterally adjustable on table 14 by the sliding of bolt 46 within the limits of slot 38.

As observed in Fig. 2, the length of holder 26 is such that it not only extends across the width of the tables 12 and 14 but extends laterally of those tables sufficiently to intersect the path of movement of work being processed on the rabbet table 22 and the purpose of this is to utilize member 26 for supporting an extension for the rabbet table. This is done by attaching an inverted L shaped member 50 to the inner side of portion 28 so that it provides a horizontal table extension extending from support 26 toward the rabbet table 22. Member 50 is attached to member 26 by bolts and nuts 52 and slots 54 are provided in portion 28 of member 26 to allow vertical adjustment of table extension 50.

In operation and use, guard member 24 will be adjusted on support 26 so as to be flush on table 14. This is possible since table 14- remains in place at all times and only table 12 is vertically movable to vary the depth of cut. It can then be laterally positioned on the table 14 to accommodate the particular work being planed as shown at 56 in Fig. 2 and in effect becomes an auxiliary fence to fence 16 as well as a guard for the knives. The inner guard side at its free end can be slightly tapered as at 58 to facilitate starting the work piece 56. Thus, as the work 56 is moved past the knives, it will be appreciated that if the operator holds his fingers along the side thereof, they will slide over the top of the guard 24 and cannot possibly come in contact with any knives. Guard 24 is immovably clamped in its set position by tightening wing nut 48 so there is no danger of it moving under contact to expose the knives as happens in the present type planer knife guards.

When the rabbet table 22 is used, the various vertical adjustments described for holder 26 will make it possible to place table 50 on the same horizontal plane as the rabbet table 22. Such adjustments, however, are illustrated for purposes of demonstrating the universal adaptability of my invention to planer-jointers of different makes and different sizes, and it will be understood that such a guard can be made without these adjustable features if fabricated for a particular make and size of tool without departing from the novel guard arrangement here disclosed.

It is submitted that the invention shown and described is aptly suited to achieve the purposes intended and is characterized by a combination of highly useful and mutually cooperating elements that combine their respective and proportionate functions in accomplishing the objects sought to be obtained.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my planer guard and holder therefore without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

A knife guard for a planer-jointer power tool of the class having at least a stationary table, a vertically adjustable table in endwise relationship thereto, power operated rotatable cutter knives disposed between said tables, and a rabbet table portion on said vertically adjustable table, said guard comprising, a support member secured to the outer end of said stationary table, an elongated guard member adapted to be placed upon said stationary table so that one end covers the adjacent ends of said tables and the unused portion of said knives and the other end is detachably secured to said support member, said guard member movable on said support member in a direction transversely of the longitudinal axes of said tables, and means on said support member to immovably secure said guard member in any desired position of adjustment, a rabbet table extension member secured to said support member and vertically adjustable thereon so as to be positionable at times on the same horizontal plane as and to the front of said rabbet table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

